Any reason I HAVE to run a center hood latch?

[Steve1968LS2]

I am running these hood pins:

http://www.aerocatch.com/automotive-home.html

I now have them and the design is VERY stong.. so much so that I am thinking of ditching the factory hood latch.



I will keep the braceing but cut away the mechanism part. I will also not have the latch parts on the hood (fill the holes)

I ordered the new DSE Closeout and I am thinking of welding up the center area. This will force even more air through the radiator. It will also have a very clean look.

Anyone see any flaws in this plan. The two hood pins should be strong enough or am I missing something?

Thoughts.

[protour_chevelle]

Make sure that air can get out from under the hood.

-Matt

[Steve1968LS2]

Make sure that air can get out from under the hood.

-Matt

Cowl induction hood makes a good escape route.. I would love to have extractors like the Mule but that's a bit out of my price range.

[protour_chevelle]

Cowl induction hood makes a good escape route.. I would love to have extractors like the Mule but that's a bit out of my price range.

Wasn't sure if it was cowl or not. My buddies 55 Chevy was having problems with an open grill at 162mph in the 1/4. The front was trying to lift because the air had no where to go. They had to cover up the grill and the problems were solved.

Do something fancy with your fenders lol. Kinda like the GrandNational gang.

-Matt

[Jim Nilsen]

Hi Steve, I have mine in the pile of parts that won't be going back on the car. I have my hood going the other way now but it is something that I believe you could live without. If in doubt you could leave the safety latch on since it doesn't weigh that much and is what makes sure the hood stays down if the main latch fails. I too have had a hood fly up on me once and that is why I turned mine around.

I am also a firm believer that air has to get in to get out and restricting the air inlet size down to what is needed to cool the engine is all that you want. Nascar uses tape and only removes as much as needed which can vary from day to day and sometimes minutes as things warm up during the day. The aerodynamics are effected by flow through the car and if you create a wall of air that has to go around your front end the better you are at higher speed. I have often thought about a louvered or slotted grill that can open and close the amount of air flow contolle by a manual cable or by a temp contoller that activated step motor or vacuum cylinder to open and close it from a bellcrank. It not only would be funtional but if done right would look really cool too. I keep thinking about how to use the DCC contoller to do this. Maybe with a little help they can come up with a kit?

Jim Nilsen

[Kenova]

..........I have often thought about a louvered or slotted grill that can open and close the amount of air flow contolle by a manual cable or by a temp contoller that activated step motor or vacuum cylinder to open and close it from a bellcrank. It not only would be funtional but if done right would look really cool too. I keep thinking about how to use the DCC contoller to do this. Maybe with a little help they can come up with a kit?

Jim Nilsen

Check out some of the big diesel trucks. It's quite common for them to have louvered grills that open and close (needed mostly for colder climates). I'm sure you could find a few ideas there.
Ken

[Damn True]

Jim,
Have you ommited the assembly that supports the front valance, header panel and the hood release mechanism as well?

If so, what if anything is supporting your valance and header?

Hi Steve, I have mine in the pile of parts that won't be going back on the car. I have my hood going the other way now but it is something that I believe you could live without. If in doubt you could leave the safety latch on since it doesn't weigh that much and is what makes sure the hood stays down if the main latch fails. I too have had a hood fly up on me once and that is why I turned mine around.

I am also a firm believer that air has to get in to get out and restricting the air inlet size down to what is needed to cool the engine is all that you want. Nascar uses tape and only removes as much as needed which can vary from day to day and sometimes minutes as things warm up during the day. The aerodynamics are effected by flow through the car and if you create a wall of air that has to go around your front end the better you are at higher speed. I have often thought about a louvered or slotted grill that can open and close the amount of air flow contolle by a manual cable or by a temp contoller that activated step motor or vacuum cylinder to open and close it from a bellcrank. It not only would be funtional but if done right would look really cool too. I keep thinking about how to use the DCC contoller to do this. Maybe with a little help they can come up with a kit?

Jim Nilsen

[Steve1968LS2]

Jim,
Have you ommited the assembly that supports the front valance, header panel and the hood release mechanism as well?

If so, what if anything is supporting your valance and header?

Omitting the supports would be bad.. the upper valance needs some sort of support.

I will just remove the latch mechanism, not the plate itself or the downward support. You can carry weight reduction a bit too far

[Damn True]

Well it would'nt be tough to fab up some tube struts to take the place of the header and valance support.

Kinda sounds like Jim ditched the whole shebang. Wondering how he addressed support.

[Jim Nilsen]

I have ditched the original support but not the need for a support. You are all correct that you need support. I don't have the original radiator support anymore. I will have a sheet that goes from the new radiator support to the header panel that is similar to what Steevo has on his car and what you see on many other cars that are blocking the air from getting past and going to the engine bay. The other new new support will attach to the same points that are on the lower valance and to the mounting point on the upper header and back to the radiator support. I have created something that I believe has as much strucural support for the whole assembly as the original and will have the support to carry the weight of the hood also.. I have kept what I am doing somewhat out of the limelight because I want to be the first to have it. The simplicity of it all and the weight savings of the whole system took me over 500 hrs or twice that of engineering. Take 14 years to build your car and you have that going for you. I never dreamed that someone would pay $800 to over $1000 for a hood hinge setup but Electrolite and the new billet hood hinges have proved that I was wrong about that. If I had known then what I know now I would have started selling them, but maybe now is the time to start. I am getting closer to putting the front clip on and when I do you will all see what I have come up with. You can all get a big tease by going to my website but the details are not really shown well. For those of you that can see what it is I am doing you will understand and for those that can't, you will just have to wait. I enjoy sharing all of the info I can here but since it is taking me soooo long to do my car because of finances like a lot of others here I have held back. I hope you all understand my desire to have the first setup like I am going to have and if you can figure it out before I get it done I will be impressed.

I am not saying that Steve should ditch the whole support brace only part of it. Mainly the pin, the spring , release and the lever which doesn't weigh much but it is what he was inquiring about being needed or not. The plate from the header to the radiator support is all that is needed to tie it all together and could be replaced with an aluminum piece if he wants to fab it up.

Jim Nilsen

[Steve1968LS2]

Well it would'nt be tough to fab up some tube struts to take the place of the header and valance support.
.

Quit making my project more complicated! lol

[Steve1968LS2]

I am not saying that Steve should ditch the whole support brace only part of it. Mainly the pin, the spring , release and the lever which doesn't weigh much but it is what he was inquiring about being needed or not. The plate from the header to the radiator support is all that is needed to tie it all together and could be replaced with an aluminum piece if he wants to fab it up.

Jim Nilsen

What about the long down brace that goes from the upper latch assembly to the lower part of the core support and the center of the lower valance. How important is that?

I only have a bit over a month to finish my car so I have to pick my battles in regards to fabbing stuff up..

[69Nova]

I only have a bit over a month to finish my car so I have to pick my battles in regards to fabbing stuff up..

Why do you have a deadline?

[Damn True]

Quit making my project more complicated! lol

Trying to get you to do my R&D for me.

[Travis B]

Why do you have a deadline?

hes a magizine guy he likes the drama

[Jim Nilsen]

Sorry I didn't make it more clear. The other new support I was talking about is the one you are talking about. You definately have to have something to tie the 3 parts together or you will more than likely have trouble with the grille possibly cracking somewhere from flopping and vibrating around. The original steel support brace really isn't that heavy. I will be fabing a new one out of aluminum that ties into the aluminum sheet that goes from the new radiator support to the header panel and down to the lower valance. I wish I had a cad drawing program to be able to show you or could sketch it but it really isn't to hard to figure out and can be done with posterboard to make templates and then transfer onto sheet aluminum and cut out with a sabre saw and bandsaw if you choose to change it all. It is much easier to do with something other than the stock radiator support so I can understand your extra difficulty. Always remember that most factory braces and brackets are usually made as light as you can make them to begin with and are usually formed to be stronger than flat stock.

If you really have a deadline to worry about I would just put it together like stock and not worry about it. you will only save about 2lbs max anyway. Leaving the pin and the spring off will save the most weight anyway and acheive somewhat the goal you are trying to go toward.

Keep it simple for now or you will be like me and have it apart longer than it is together ,LOL

Jim Nilsen

[Damn True]

Jim, I've been pouring over your photos and can't for the life of me figure out what you are doing. I have some ideas in mind for my project, I'd like to bounce a few things off of you. It sounds like we are going down similar roads.

[Jim Nilsen]

True you have a PM.

[OHCbird]

Steve- maybe I'm reading this wrong... but are you inferring that the cowl area, or the cowl induction hood makes a good extractor or area for extraction? That counters the original design of the cowl hood-which was to pull high pressure air from the cowl area. You'll find that you get flow into the engine compartment around the cowl area (vice pulling it out).

As an example- look at the typical NASCAR air cleaner housing that is fed from the cowl area. Your best bet is to try to find a negaitive pressure area along the side if it becomes a big concern (which I don't think it will). I would also never want hot engine compartment air (and possible steam / oil) routed over the windshield.

Just a thought...
PS- Sweet ride!

[MrQuick]

That counters the original design of the cowl hood-which was to pull high pressure air from the cowl area. You'll find that you get flow into the engine compartment around the cowl area (vice pulling it out

I agree, you would remove more air from further down the hood. Say L88 style hood. You can do a search Steve, there are bolt on fiberglass louver plates that you can use around the hinge area. Look ok too. Mid 90's jeep used them too.